Message from the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

I am pleased to present the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) 2018-19 Departmental Plan.

In this year’s report, we unveil our new Departmental Results Framework, which details what our organization does, what results we are trying to achieve for Canadians, and how we will assess progress and measure success.

The core responsibility of the OPC is the protection of privacy rights of Canadians. To fulfill our core responsibility, our work will now fall into one of two program areas – Compliance or Promotion. Put simply, activities related to addressing existing compliance issues will fall under the Compliance Program, while activities aimed at bringing departments and organizations towards compliance with the law will fall under the Promotion Program.

To achieve our ultimate goal – ensuring a high proportion of Canadians feel their privacy rights are respected – our first strategy will be, under the Promotion Program, to inform them of their rights and how to exercise them, and to guide departments and organizations on how to comply with their privacy responsibilities. Guidelines and information will be issued on most key privacy issues, starting with how to achieve meaningful consent in the current complex digital environment. We will aim to make our information as practical and useful as possible, to demystify new technologies and their impact on privacy.

We also want to work with government and industry proactively in an advisory capacity, to better understand and mitigate any negative privacy impacts related to new technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. Our goal is to share information and advice with businesses and departments when they are designing their services so that Canadians may enjoy the benefits of innovation without undue risk to their privacy. We are also encouraging Parliamentarians to strengthen Canada’s privacy laws to ensure they meet 21st century challenges.

Our second strategy, under our Compliance Program, will be to bring enforcement actions to ensure violations of the law are identified and remedies are recommended. This will of course include investigations into complaints filed by Canadians. In that regard, more efforts will be made to improve our timeliness in completing investigations. We will also shift towards more proactive enforcement. Where we see chronic or sector-specific privacy issues that aren’t being addressed through our complaint system, we will proceed proactively to examine these matters, for instance through more Commissioner-initiated investigations.

The scale and pace of technological advances and their use in business and government organizations are significantly straining the ability of individuals to protect their privacy. By delineating our activities more clearly under two programs, Compliance and Promotion, by being more proactive and by ensuring we are citizen-focused, I hope Canadians may begin to feel more empowered and in control of what happens to their personal information.

The original version was signed by

Daniel Therrien Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Plans at a glance

In our most recent Annual Report to Parliament, we unveiled the shift in our approach to privacy protection, putting greater emphasis on citizen empowerment and proactively and constructively engaging with public and private sector organizations to help them achieve compliance with federal privacy laws. As such, our promotion activities must be useful to both individuals and organizations, and must help the latter reach compliance with Canada’s privacy laws. Helping organizations and federal institutions comply with privacy laws ultimately serves to improve privacy protections for individuals.

In the years to come, we will build on our privacy priorities work to date by bolstering information and guidance to improve privacy protection for individuals. We will dedicate resources to proactively work with government and industry and provide advice on programs and initiatives. And we will put greater emphasis on seeking feedback on the information, advice and guidance we provide to make sure it is useful for empowering Canadians to exercise their privacy rights, as well as guiding organizations to achieve compliance with their federal privacy obligations.

2. Support government and parliamentary initiatives to reform federal privacy legislation

The Privacy Act and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act are the foundations for protecting Canadians’ privacy at the federal level and establishing the public trust needed to enable an innovative and thriving digital economy, and a nimble and effective government to serve its citizenry. However, Canadians expect modernized privacy laws that are in step with evolving technologies and in line with the rest of the world. They increasingly demand, and deserve, transparency and accountability on the part of organizations and institutions they deal with. And they no doubt want to embrace the benefits of innovation, while having confidence that their personal information is being protected, and that societal boundaries of what is responsible, fair and ethical are being respected.

In the coming year, we will continue to advocate for the strengthening of Canada’s privacy laws to ensure they meet 21st century challenges. Government officials have responded positively to our call for modernization of the Privacy Act, acknowledging that it is in need of a wholesale review. We look forward to working with the government in the year to come to breathe new life into the Privacy Act. We also look forward to the government’s response to the legislative review of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, for which we suggested a number of potential reforms.

3. Make strategic use of our enforcement powers to achieve greater compliance with federal privacy laws

While Canada’s largely reactive, complaint-based model for privacy protection has had a measure of success over the years; it is facing formidable challenges in the digital age. These challenges, as well as proposals to strengthen federal privacy laws, are described in detail in the office’s most recent Annual Report to Parliament. The truth is, we live in an increasingly connected world where it is no longer clear or easily discernible to Canadians “who is doing what with their data”. People are unlikely to file a complaint when they do not know what is happening to their personal information. Consequently, there is a greater responsibility on the OPC to proactively identify and address privacy issues of greatest risk to Canadians.

We will make strategic use of our formal powers, including our power to conduct Commissioner-initiated investigations or audits, which will allow us to achieve better protection of Canadians’ privacy rights within the current legislative framework. These enforcement actions will allow us to address privacy practices across an industry or institution to the extent possible within our limited resources. In addition, Commissioner-initiated investigations and audits will assist us in addressing systemic privacy issues efficiently and effectively in instances when responding to individual complaints on a matter is no longer a sustainable compliance strategy.

4. Optimize organizational capacity and agility to focus on results

In the last year, we developed our office’s new Departmental Results Framework and redefined our desired outcomes and how we will measure results achieved. As part of this work, we also undertook a comprehensive review of our organizational structure to make sure our limited resources and our activities are optimally aligned to deliver results for Canadians. This work has led to greater clarity of roles and responsibilities and also highlighted a number of areas for improvement.

In the coming year, we will optimize the benefits of our new organizational structure, taking full advantage of collaboration opportunities and more integrated decision-making. We will also make better use of our business intelligence to guide our work, in order to address privacy issues at a more strategic level. We will continue to adapt our management practices and to strive to make greater use of risk management as a means to both address capacity issues, and to continually innovate in how we deliver quality services and results for Canadians. We believe these efforts will help us, for instance, to complete investigations in a more timely way.

And finally, we will leverage strategic partnerships and collaborative opportunities to advance our Departmental Results Framework objectives. Respect for privacy in a digital world where data moves across borders requires collaboration with other jurisdictions. In the last five years, we have built a solid foundation for enforcement collaboration with our domestic and international enforcement partners. We will continue to take advantage of the capacity-building activities in recent years while continuing to strategically lead and engage in collaboration initiatives.

For more information on the OPC’s plans, priorities and planned results, see the “planned results” section of this report.

Planned results: what we want to achieve this year and beyond

Core Responsibilities

Protection of Privacy Rights

Description

Ensure the protection of privacy rights of Canadians; enforce privacy obligations by federal government institutions and private-sector organizations; provide advice to Parliament on potential privacy implications of proposed legislation and government programs; promote awareness and understanding of rights and obligations under federal privacy legislation.

Planning highlights

In 2018-19, we will continue our efforts to deliver on our core responsibility and we will work towards making a meaningful contribution towards our departmental results.

To empower Canadians to exercise their privacy rights and guide organizations to comply with their privacy obligations, our office will:

Work towards providing useful and practical information and guidance to Canadians and organizations. As part of our privacy priorities work, we identified a series of topics on which we intend to issue information and guidance to help Canadians have a better understanding of privacy implications and have more say in exercising their privacy choices. We also identified a series of topics where we intend to issue guidance or update existing materials aimed at businesses to help provide clarity and certainty around particular issues or practices. The list of 30 topicsFootnote 1 will drive our information and guidance work for the coming years. While we cannot promise to fulfil this wish list as quickly as we would like, we will strive to complete 90 percent of it by 2021, taking into account our workload and resources.

Refine our outreach strategies and approaches to have the greatest impact on the level of awareness and understanding of privacy rights and obligations. To that end, in addition to using traditional communications tools and vehicles, we will strive to identify new and innovative ways to expand our communications reach and impact.

Dedicate resources to provide advice to federal and private sector organizations on programs and initiatives to proactively address privacy risks.

Put greater emphasis on seeking feedback on the information, advice and guidance we provide to make sure it serves the purposes of empowering Canadians to exercise their privacy rights, and of guiding organizations to achieve compliance with their federal privacy obligations.

Complete the implementation of our medium-term plans to advance our strategic privacy priorities and evaluate the impact of our work to date.

We will remain responsive to Parliamentarians’ request for advice on the privacy implications of bills and studies, and we will support government and parliamentary initiatives to reform federal privacy legislation in the coming year.

We will also push for greater accountability for, and compliance with, privacy obligations, to ensure privacy rights of individuals are respected and obligations are met. We will do this by:

Making strategic use of our formal powers, including our power to conduct Commissioner-initiated investigations or audits. We will use this proactive enforcement model to require organizations to demonstrate their accountability, i.e., how they have taken measures to protect individuals’ privacy.

Continuing to review and adapt our investigations processes to increase efficiency and effectiveness and work towards our goal of providing timely responses to complaints filed by Canadians. For instance, we will seek to make greater use of early resolution and summary investigations, and we will make use of technology to increase the timeliness of our investigations process.

Strengthening processes for mandatory breach reporting in the public- and private-sector to make sure material privacy breaches are reported and that appropriate measures are taken by organizations in response to a breach. In particular, we will prepare for, and adapt to the anticipated increase in private sector breach reports, as a result of the coming into force of mandatory breach reporting expected in the coming year. On the public sector side, we will continue to engage with institutions on their breach reporting obligations.

Looking at ways to increase accountability for the implementation of our recommendations and strengthen follow-up activities where possible, to make sure our interventions result in added privacy protection.

This year we will undertake our biennial polling of Canadians which will enable us to gain valuable insight on the awareness, understanding and perceptions of Canadians related to their privacy rights. In line with the government-wide priorities of gender equality, diversity and inclusiveness, through our polling work, we plan to ensure that results by gender are included, assessed and taken into consideration in future OPC initiatives, for example, in the development of guidance and in public education efforts.

To achieve results for Canadians, our office must remain focused on its goals, and we must continually innovate and work smarter with the resources entrusted in us. In the coming year, we will work to:

Capitalize on our new organizational structure, taking full advantage of collaboration opportunities and more integrated, evidence-based, and strategic decision-making;

Adapt our management practices for a greater focus on results, and strive to make greater use of risk management approaches to address capacity issues,

Continually innovate in how we deliver services, including exploring leading edge technologies and examining new approaches used in industry and government, and how we can better achieve results that matter to Canadians; and,

Percentage of key privacy issues that are the subject of information to Canadians on how to exercise their privacy rights

90%

March 31, 2021

n/a

n/a

n/a

Percentage of Canadians who read OPC information and find it useful

70%

March 31, 2019

n/a

n/a

n/a

Parliamentarians, and public and private sector organizations are informed and guided to protect Canadians’ privacy rights

Percentage of OPC recommendations on privacy-relevant bills and studies that have been adopted

60%

March 31, 2019

n/a

n/a

n/a

Percentage of private sector organizations that have good or excellent knowledge of their privacy obligations

85%

March 31, 2020

Not a survey year

82%

Not a survey year

Percentage of key privacy issues that are the subject of guidance to organizations on how to comply with their privacy responsibilities

90%

March 31, 2021

n/a

n/a

n/a

Percentage of federal and private sector organizations that find OPC’s advice and guidance to be useful in reaching compliance

70%

March 31, 2019

n/a

n/a

n/a

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)

2018-19 Main Estimates

2018-19 Planned Spending

2019-20 Planned Spending

2020-21 Planned spending

18,160,148

18,160,148

18,160,148

18,160,148

Human resources (Full-time equivalents)

2018-19 Planned full-time equivalents

2019-20 Planned full-time equivalents

2020-21 Planned full-time equivalents

133

133

133

Financial, human resources and performance information for the OPC’s Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Internal Services

Description

Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct service categories that support Program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. The 10 service categories are: Management and Oversight Services; Communications Services; Legal Services; Human Resources Management Services; Financial Management Services; Information Management Services; Information Technology Services; Real Property Services; Materiel Services; and Acquisition Services.

At the OPC the communications services are an integral part of our education and outreach mandate. As such, these services are included in the Promotion Program. Similarly, the OPC’s legal services are an integral part of the delivery of compliance activities and are therefore included in the Compliance Program.

Planning highlights

The OPC’s Internal Services will continue to support the organization in delivering its mandate and achieving results for Canadians.

A change management strategy was developed to ensure an effective transition to our new organizational structure and to make sure that issues identified for improvement in the course of the organizational review are addressed. The implementation of this strategy will carry well into 2018-19.

Our office’s new Department Results Framework and supporting performance measurement and planning frameworks will be implemented to support management in the achievement of results for Canadians.

Our Integrated Business and Human Resources Plan 2016-19 will continue to support the organization in making business and organizational changes to deliver quality service to Canadians; enable the office to recruit skilled, diverse people; engage and develop its employees; and create a healthy, respectful workplace.

A formative evaluation of the OPC's strategic privacy priorities work will provide insight into progress to date in advancing these priorities. It will support management in determining any needed course correction to make sure the office’s work under these priorities is contributing to desired outcomes.

The implementation of the OPC’s updated Information Management and Information Technology (IT) strategies will ensure that the systems and services offered continue to meet clients’ needs while also improving information management practices and maintaining a sound IT infrastructure.

Opportunities to partner with other Agents of Parliament will continue to be explored to gain effectiveness, share knowledge and continue implementing best practices in areas such as information technology, administrative services, training, and human resources programs.

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)

2018-19 Main Estimates

2018-19 Planned Spending

2019-20 Planned Spending

2020-21 Planned spending *

7,024,997

7,024,997

7,024,997

7,024,997

* Includes Vote Netted Revenue authority (VNR) of $200,000 for internal support services to other government organizations

Human resources (Full-time equivalents)

2018-19 Planned full-time equivalents

2019-20 Planned full-time equivalents

2020-21 Planned full-time equivalents

48

48

48

Spending and human resources

Planned spending

Text version of Figure 1

Figure 1: Departmental spending trend graph

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

2018-19

2019-20

2020-21

Statutory

2,347,217

2,465,049

2,269,358

2,291,153

2,291,153

2,291,153

Voted

21,834,186

21,295,679

23,957,601

22,893,992

22,893,992

22,893,992

Total *

24,181,403

23,760,728

26,226,959

25,185,145

25,185,145

25,185,145

* Includes Vote Netted Revenue authority (VNR) of $200,000 for internal support services to other government operations.

The graph above illustrates the OPC’s spending trend over a six-year period from 2015-16 to 2020-21.

Statutory spending covers annual costs for employee benefits. Such costs may vary from year to year and are dictated by the Treasury Board Secretariat on the basis of calculated expenses and forecasts.

Fiscal years 2015-16 and 2016-17 reflect the organization’s actual expenditures, as reported in the Public Accounts. Fiscal years 2017-18 to 2019-20 represent planned spending.

* Starting 2018-19, the OPC will report under its core responsibilities reflected in the Departmental Results Framework. ** Includes Vote Netted Revenue authority (VNR) of $200,000 for internal support services to other government organizations.

Analysis of the spending trend

For fiscal years 2015-16 and 2016-17, actual spending represents the actual expenditures as reported in the Public Accounts of Canada.

There was a decrease in expenditures in 2016-17 due the need to put aside a significant portion of the OPC’s authorities in the event that collective bargaining between Treasury Board and bargaining units would be ratified and subsequently signed prior to March 31, 2017. However, the majority of collective agreements were only signed after April 2017, and as a result, the OPC sought authority to ensure the funds set aside in 2016-17 were available in 2017-18 to offset collective bargaining pressures.

Projected spending for the fiscal year 2017-18 corresponds to the planned spending of the office. It shows an increase over the previous year as a result of the inclusion of the carry forward from 2016-17 and signed collective agreements.

The spending trend starting in 2018-19 remains fairly stable. The amounts essentially reflect a decrease related to the change in the employee benefits plan.

Estimates by vote

Future-Oriented Condensed Statement of Operations

The Future Oriented Condensed Statement of Operations provides a general overview of the OPC’s operations. The forecast of financial information on expenses and revenues is prepared on an accrual accounting basis to strengthen accountability and to improve transparency and financial management.

Because the Future Oriented Condensed Statement of Operations is prepared on an accrual accounting basis, and the forecast and planned spending amounts presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan are prepared on an expenditure basis, amounts may differ.

Future Oriented Condensed Statement of Operations for the year ended March 31, 2019 (dollars)

Financial information

2017-18 Forecast results

2018-19 Planned results

Difference (2018-19 Planned results minus 2017-18 Forecast results)

Total expenses

28,915,407

28,598,088

(317,319)

Total revenues

(150,000)

(200,000)

(50,000)

Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers

28,765,407

28,398,088

(367,319)

Total expenses decrease between 2017-18 and 2018-19 is mainly due to the funding received in 2017-18 from Treasury Board Central Votes (Operating Budget Carry-Forward) being included in the 2017-18 forecast results but not in the 2018-19 planned spending, and a reduction of the rate on Employee Benefit Plan.

Total revenues include a recovery from another department for costs associated with the provision of internal services.

Indicator: Percentage of OPC recommendations on privacy-relevant bills and studies that have been adopted

Indicator: Percentage of private sector organizations that have a good or excellent knowledge of their privacy obligations

Indicator: Percentage of key privacy issues that are the subject of guidance to organizations on how to comply with their privacy responsibilities

Indicator: Percentage of federal and private sector organizations that find OPC’s advice and guidance to be useful in reaching compliance

Program Inventory

Compliance Program

Promotion Program

To fulfill our core responsibility, our work now falls into one of two program areas – Compliance or Promotion. Activities related to addressing existing compliance issues fall under the Compliance Program, while activities aimed at bringing departments and organizations towards compliance with the law fall under the Promotion Program. Some activities in our previous Compliance Program were of a preventative nature. These include the review of Privacy Impact Assessments and responses to information requests from Canadians. As such, these activities have been moved from our Compliance Program and now form part of our new consolidated Promotion Program.

Concordance between Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory, 2018-19, and Strategic Outcomes and Program Alignment Architecture, 2017-18

2018-19 Core Responsibilities and Program Inventory of Record

2017-18 Strategic Outcomes and Program Alignment Architecture

Percentage of Program Alignment Architecture program (dollars) corresponding to new program in the Program Inventory

Core Responsibility: Protection of privacy rights

Strategic Outcome: The privacy rights of individuals are protected

100%

Program 1.1 Compliance Program

1.1 Compliance Activities

77%

Program 1.2 Promotion Program

1.1 Compliance Activities

23%

1.2 Research and Policy Development

100%

1.3 Public Outreach

100%

Supporting information on the Program Inventory

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to the OPC’s Program Inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Federal tax expenditures

The tax system can be used to achieve public policy objectives through the application of special measures such as low tax rates, exemptions, deductions, deferrals and credits. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for these measures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures. This report also provides detailed background information on tax expenditures, including descriptions, objectives, historical information and references to related federal spending programs. The tax measures presented in this report are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance.

Appendix A: definitions

Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)

Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

Core Responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)

An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a Core Responsibility are reflected in one or more related Departmental Results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.

Departmental Plan (Plan ministériel)

Provides information on the plans and expected performance of appropriated departments over a three year period. Departmental Plans are tabled in Parliament each spring.

Departmental Result (résultat ministériel)

A Departmental Result represents the change or changes that the department seeks to influence. A Departmental Result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.

Departmental Result Indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)

A factor or variable that provides a valid and reliable means to measure or describe progress on a Departmental Result.

Departmental Results Framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)

Consists of the department’s Core Responsibilities, Departmental Results and Departmental Result Indicators.

Departmental Results Report (Rapport sur les résultats ministériels)

Provides information on the actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.

experimentation (expérimentation)

Activities that seek to explore, test and compare the effects and impacts of policies, interventions and approaches, to inform evidence-based decision-making, by learning what works and what does not.

full time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)

A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person year charge against a departmental budget. Full time equivalents are calculated as a ratio of assigned hours of work to scheduled hours of work. Scheduled hours of work are set out in collective agreements.

An analytical process used to help identify the potential impacts of policies, Programs and services on diverse groups of women, men and gender-diverse people. The “plus” acknowledges that GBA goes beyond sex and gender differences to consider multiple identity factors that intersect to make people who they are (such as race, ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability).

government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2017-18 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities refers to those high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the 2015 Speech from the Throne, namely: Growth for the Middle Class; Open and Transparent Government; A Clean Environment and a Strong Economy; Diversity is Canada's Strength; and Security and Opportunity.

horizontal initiatives (initiative horizontale)

A horizontal initiative is one in which two or more federal organizations, through an approved funding agreement, work toward achieving clearly defined shared outcomes, and which has been designated (e.g. by Cabinet, a central agency, etc.) as a horizontal initiative for managing and reporting purposes.

non budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)

Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.

performance (rendement)

What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.

performance indicator (indicateur de rendement)

A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an organization, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.

For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts that receive Treasury Board approval by February 1. Therefore, planned spending may include amounts incremental to planned expenditures presented in the Main Estimates.

A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

plans (plan)

The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead up to the expected result.

priorities (priorité)

Plans or projects that an organization has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Priorities represent the things that are most important or what must be done first to support the achievement of the desired Strategic Outcome(s).

Program (programme)

A group of related resource inputs and activities that are managed to meet specific needs and to achieve intended results and that are treated as a budgetary unit.

A structured inventory of an organization’s programs depicting the hierarchical relationship between programs and the Strategic Outcome(s) to which they contribute.

result (résultat)

An external consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead they are within the area of the organization’s influence.

statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)

Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.

Strategic Outcome (résultat stratégique)

A long term and enduring benefit to Canadians that is linked to the organization’s mandate, vision and core functions.

sunset program (programme temporisé)

A time limited program that does not have an ongoing funding and policy authority. When the program is set to expire, a decision must be made whether to continue the program. In the case of a renewal, the decision specifies the scope, funding level and duration.

target (cible)

A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

voted expenditures (dépenses votées)

Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an Appropriation Act. The Vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.

Footnotes

The OPC redefined its desired outcomes and performance indicators as part of the development of its new Departmental Results Framework. For many of the new indicators, past performance information is not available and has been identified as “n/a”.

The OPC surveys Canadians every two years to explore awareness, understanding, and perceptions of privacy-related issues. The question for this indicator was altered in the 2016-17 survey. Previously, the question asked respondents to rate their knowledge of their privacy rights “under the various laws protecting your personal information”. The question no longer includes the reference to “various laws”. The removal of this reference may have impacted Canadians’ responses; comparisons of the 2016 results to those of previous years should be considered with this in mind and viewed with some caution.

The Commissioner works independently of government cabinet ministers and reports directly to Parliament. For the purposes of tabling Main Estimates, Departmental Plans and Results, the Commissioner submits reports via the Justice Minister.